


Perseverance and Kindness

by TwiceAsFrustrating



Series: The Wish of Six [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Death, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-04 14:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5338259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwiceAsFrustrating/pseuds/TwiceAsFrustrating
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Two virtues for this stretch. Why? Because I can. Also, it's cute.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Two virtues for this stretch. Why? Because I can. Also, it's cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the baby talk in advance. I am so sorry.

“Would you pass me the snails, Dear?”  
You grab the bag of snails that sits on the kitchen counter. You reach into the bag to feel their slimy lower bodies crawl over your hand. This is the easiest way to pick them up. Forcibly moving them is difficult.  
Once your hand is covered in them, you pull it out. There are no less than seven of them. You hold them up for her to see, “This enough of ‘em, Mama Tori?”  
She looks over at you. The moment she lays eyes on you, she gasps, “Oh, Child, be careful.” She takes you gently by the hand and places it on the counter. The snails begin the crawl away from you and onto the space below.  
“They’re just snails,” you whine. She does this all the time. No matter how safe something is, she always overreacts and treats it like you are in mortal danger.  
You suppose you can’t blame her. Outside of the ruins, you would probably be in danger all the time. As it stands now, you are perfectly safe. She makes sure that you are.  
“Mama Tori,” a small voice squeaks up from the entrance of the kitchen.  
You turn around to see the tiny frame standing in the entryway. Barely tall enough to reach your waist, they stare at you and Toriel from behind a pair of scratched up glasses with the tip of their thumb sitting between their lips. Their knees are covered in dirt and grass stains. Curled against their tiny body is a notebook held by their freehand.  
“Oh no. Are you okay, Dear?” Toriel looks at them, seeming to forget about the snails on the counter.  
They nod, “Fraé watch me.” Froggit. They mean Froggit. Their speech needs work, but what can you expect from such a small kid?  
Toriel looks between the two of you with her trademark concern, “You went out alone?” You can tell she’s debating who is more need of her guidance at the moment. That is an internal conflict she will never solve.  
You peel yourself away from the counter and walk over to the other child that makes their home with Toriel. You bend at the knees and sit up so you are balanced on the balls of your feet, “Were they nice? Are you hurt at all? You didn’t get in a fight, did you?” You know that’s the jist of what she wants to ask.  
They shake their head. They hold out their notebook to you. When you do not make a move for it, they poke you in the upper arm with one of the corners. The assault only stops when you take it. When you do not do anything else with it, their face turns into a pout.  
You laugh at their face and wrap your arms around them, mussing their hair with your fingers before you close the embrace, “Sorry. Sorry. Show me what page you want me to look at.”  
They hold out their hands to take the notebook back. You gladly hand it over and watch them flip to one of the first pages. They hand it back to you with a smile on their face.  
The page is a mess of red crayon scribbles and doodles. You can’t make out a word of what it says- if it even if in a real language- but you can make out the vague shape of a frog-esque creature. Alongside the doodle is a print set in mud.  
“What is it?” You look behind you at the sound of Toriel’s voice. She is standing over both of you with her hand over her mouth in surprise.  
The other child beams with pride, “Fraé.”  
You have to stare at the page a little longer to understand what they mean. When it hits you, you almost feel embarrassed for how long it took you to come to the simple conclusion, “You wrote everything you know about them in here, didn’t you?”  
They nod and clap their hands together. It seems you got it right. Not that you can understand the first thing about what they wrote, but it makes them happy. Toriel, on the other hand, looks like she is going to pass out from shock. She really does not like when either of you goes out without her. You aren’t too worried though. The younger child has a way with the other monsters in the ruins and is adored by all of them.  
It won’t stop her from her worrying fits though, “Child, you know it isn’t safe for you to go out alone. Next time, promise you will-”  
“Snails,” the other child speaks up and cuts her off. Their finger is pointing over your shoulder, toward the counter.  
Both you and she turn around to see that the snails have begun to crawl up the walls and down the sides of the counter. You can almost hear the mental shriek as she rushes to try and recapture them all.  
You look back at the other child, who has closed their notebook once more. The look on their face is priceless. You nearly chuckle before the next question leaves your mouth, “You’re going to sneak out again tomorrow, aren’t you?”  
They nod, then change the subject, “Wha diner?” Dinner. So close.  
“Snail salad.”  
They stick out their tongue and makes a sound of disgust, “I dun lik leteshe.”  
“You can’t have just snails, again.”  
The look on their face tells you they are going to try. They will probably succeed too. They are a cunning child.  
You sigh with a smile on your face, “Let’s let Mama Tori finish up in here. You need to get cleaned up.” You stand and hold out your hand.  
They pass you the one that was sitting in their mouth. Their thumb is covered in slobber and drool, but that’s nothing new. You guess it doesn’t really matter. You’re going to clean them up soon, anyway. Then, you three will all sit down to eat dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fluff before the pain. Because I am a terrible person.

The younger child came home with a small bruise on their arm. That did not make Mama Tori happy. Not at all. The minute she saw it, her eyes lit like burning flames. She was on a mission to find whichever monster was responsible. Considering how many lived in the ruins, that was going to be a long task.  
Of course, she tried asking first. She got no answer other than a shrug. She then went out without either of you, making you both promise to stay inside. Since then, the silence between the two of you has been nearly unbearable. Every time you try to strike up any kind of conversation, they stay quiet.  
You can hear the sound of their crayon against the paper in their notebook as you drop your head against the dining table. You stare at them as they color something in, looking for each color necessary.   
“Which monster was it?” You finally break the silence.  
They look up at you over the rim of their glasses before ignoring the question again and going back to doing whatever they were in their notebook.  
“I won’t tell Mama Tori. I promise,” you say to them. Something has to happen to break this dead silence.  
They look at you once more before holding up their notebook. The page is opened to their entry on Vegetoids.  
“Why were you fighting them?” You have to ask. You need to know why they did something so foolish.  
The look of embarrassment that spreads across their face is obvious, “Tase.”  
“Taste? What do you mean?”  
“Veg tase yucky.”  
You stare at them in silence. Neither of you seems to be able to begin the next part of the conversation. They got in a fight… to try and eat a Vegetoid? You knew they liked feeding people, but that seems a bit extreme.  
You finally break the new silence, “Why did you have to taste it?”  
They stand up, dropping the crayons they were using on the ground. Their little hands wrap around the notebook as a wide smile spreads across their face. The way they walk up to you is almost like a skip.  
They place the notebook in front of you, “Look.”  
You oblige. It’s as hard to read as ever, but you know each page is a different monster. There are eight total pages. Eight monsters in total they have run into, “You did very well,” you say, even though you can’t read it and only recognize the monsters based on their pictures.  
“Dun,” they pipe up.  
You look between them and the notebook, “You finished?” You try to look at one of the pages more closely. If you concentrate, you can tell the page is split into sections. The image of each monster sits in the upper right corner of the page. There are scribbles that look like an attempt at words. From what little you can make out, you can tell this is a dictionary of monsters they have seen.  
“You really did all of this by yourself?”  
They have not lost the look of pride on their face once, “Yup.”  
You hand the notebook back to them, your own face full of pride in them, “You’re so smart. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are any more monsters here. You may have to find some other way to pass the time,” you tell them. They are too young to start helping you and Toriel cook. You’re not sure what they can do, “I’ll help you figure out something tomorrow, okay?”  
They look between you and the notebook before going quiet again. They turn their back to you and walk back over to their set of crayons. They sit on the floor and open the notebook back up to continue coloring.  
They may like the idea yet, but you’re sure they will find something else to do. Mama Tori will like to hear that the younger one won’t be traveling out into the ruins everyday supervised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why eight pages? Because I did not count Flowey (who does not exist yet) or Napstablook (because Perseverance has never personally met them). Toriel is in there however.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I have been busy. Here is your next chapter any way. Because I love you all ^^

You wake up in a bed that has only you in it. It’s unusual, but not unheard of. You don’t have the room all to yourself, and the young one is a restless sleeper who usually crawls into bed with either you or Mama Tori sometime in the middle of the night. They probably snuck into Toriel’s room sometime during the night. You know they like to sleep curled up in her fur. Little kids are weird. You’re not going to sleep anytime soon though, so it’s time to get up.  
You sit up in your bed, stretching your arms to remove the stiffness. You look around for any indication of what time it may be. There is none, but you sort of already knew that. There really is no way to keep track of what time it is in the ruins. Well, not that you ever figured out. Toriel, at least, seems to always know what time it is. Thank goodness for that.  
As you wake up, however, you begin to smell something. It smells like snails and eggs. No fair! Toriel started making breakfast without you! She promised she would let you help cook the meals. You can’t believe you she would break her promise like this.  
You toss the blankets off from over your body and drop your feet to the ground. You jump up from the mattress and run to open the door of your room. You don’t even bother putting on your normal clothing before running out into the hall. The wooden floors are surprisingly warm as you run on them. The ruins don’t seem to follow logic in any way, shape, or form. Nothing that would be considered logic back on the surface, anyway.  
Toriel is standing over a pan, stirring the contents when you find her. She is laughing under her breath, probably at another terrible pun. You don’t dislike the puns; you just acknowledge that they are terrible. Terrible and wonderful.  
“Mama Tori, you started making breakfast without me,” you call out, trying to keep your voice at a volume that won’t startle her.  
She doesn’t take her eyes off the pan as she cooks, “I didn’t want to wake either of you up,” she looks back at you and smile, “How about you join me now.”  
You jump before she even finishes the sentence. You grab the messy apron she keeps for you off the hook that it hangs by. She won’t let you work with any of the fire, so you can’t help finish up the serving she’s working on, but you can start mixing the next one.  
You grab the eggs that still sit on the counter and crae them into a waiting bowl. The snails are already prepared, so you only have to toss them into the eggs. When the two item ae together, you stir them viciously.  
The look of pride on Toriel’s face warms your heart. It’s like being watched by your own mother. Though, you suppose she has come to really take on that roll since you fell down here. You call her Mama Tori for a reason, you guess.  
The food is done before you realize what has happened. You have repared all the servings and she has finished them up. Cooking comes naturally to you after helping her for so long. She is beaming at you though, and it feels nice.  
As she goes to rinse the cast iron pan off in the sink, she speaks to you, “Would you mind waking up the little one for me so we can eat?”  
You nod, “They’re in your room, right?”  
The look on her face as she turns towards you is filled with confusion and worry, “They are not in yours?”  
You shake your head.  
You can see the color drain from Toriel’s face, even behind her fur, “Please, Child, go to your room and stay there.” She rushes out of the kitchen and you lose track of her completely. As you are left standing alone in the kitchen, you can hear the front door slam shut.  
Them sneaking out is nothing new. Toriel leaving to go find them is just as common. Something is different this time though. She went the wrong way. You know, because all the monsters in the ruins have already been cataloged. They would never go back that way, which means there is only one other way to go.  
You stare at the cast iron pan that sits in the sink. It’s the only thing you can reach in the kitchen, since Toriel keeps everything out of reach for safety reasons. You have no choice though. You grab the pan from the sink, forgoing cleaning it out. It is heavy in your grip,feeling more like a sledgehammer than a cooking instrument. You hope you never have to use it.  
You have never been outside the ruins, though you know how to exit after watching Toriel leave to buy snails all the time. You have to find them. They are too young to know what they are doing out there. They couldn’t have gone very far. Just please, let them be alright.


	4. Chapter 4

The door that separates you from the rest of the Underground is very large. It towers over you like a beast ready to swallow its prey whole and sends a nervous shudder through your bones. You clench the handle of the pan in your main hand and push the massive frame of the door open with your free one.  
You miss Toriel already. You will go back as soon as you have found who you are looking for. Until then, however, you can’t go back. You left a note for Toriel before you set out out so she doesn’t worry about you. You would hate to leave her wondering where you went. She’s your Mama Tori; you can’t bring yourself to worry her.  
The small, dirty apron is no protection for what you find beyond the door. It is so cold. You can feel the moisture sitting beneath the tips of your fingers freezing over from exposure to the air. It’s been a long time since you felt such a chill on your skin. Toriel would never let you live in anything but complete comfort.  
There is one good thing about the area being freezing cold, at least. That one good thing is that it snows, apparently a lot given how high the white fluff goes. Setting into the white ground is a small, human footprint. It seems you were right about them passing through this way.  
The footprint isn’t alone, either. There are dozens of them, all leading out into the distance. The weight of the pan in your hand seems to vanish as you drag your feet to follow after the trail that has been left for you.  
You barely feel the cold as it brushes past you. Right now, there is nothing in this world or the one you originally came from that could stop you from accomplishing your goal. You only know you have to find them and fast. This part of the Underground is unfamiliar and they could be really hurt.  
You keep the prints in sight as you walk. They don’t look like they’ve begun to be covered up, which means they were made recently. Or, you hope so. If they are too old, you won't be able to track them to the source. You just want to find them safe and sound.  
The trail leads in circles as it twists and turns around itself. Occasionally, there are small handprints alongside the path. They sink down deep, like the force behind them was the entirety of their weight. Sometimes, you find hints of other prints beside their own. Each time, you worry that you will find blood or dust along the path, but it never appears. No matter how many times the path deviates or divides into multiple prints, it never shows signs of a major struggle. Nothing outside of one of the normal tussles like what you would come across in the ruins.   
The trail even leads through a town. One that is full of kind monsters. They remind you of Toriel, which gives you hope they should kindness when the little one needed it. You cannot imagine what they may have went through without it.   
The only issue you come across is when the path ends. The snow thins out into non-existence and the footprints fade with it. There is no more path to follow and no sign they turned around. You have nothing left to find them by.

**Author's Note:**

> I will admit now that since this story has two virtues, it will probably take longer. Please allow me some more time to write it up.


End file.
